Respiration; international review of thoracic diseases
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Pleural effusions (PEs) are common in critically ill patients mainly as a consequence of severe cardiopulmonary disorders frequently encountered in these patients. Their impact on the pathophysiology of acute respiratory failure remains unknown. ⋯ CT provides a much more accurate evaluation of the size and location of PEs and is extremely helpful in the guidance of catheters into loculated fluid collections. Hemothorax in critically ill patients is usually related to trauma or surgical interventions and requires early drainage and possibly surgical exploration.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Comparison of automatic and continuous positive airway pressure in a night-by-night analysis: a randomized, crossover study.
Long-term compliance is suboptimal in the treatment of the obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). ⋯ Treatment efficacy and adherence are similar with CPAP and APAP. There is a trend towards lower leakage with APAP therapy. Patients prefer the automatic mode to fixed pressure.
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A T tube is an upper airway device well described in the literature which is used to maintain tracheal lumen patency. Although tube occlusion is a known complication, it can be minimized by certain precautions. Otherwise, total occlusion can result in dramatic clinical deterioration or death. Herein, we describe a new clinical entity, 'tricho-tracheobezoar', using a new term defining a hairball in the trachea, which illustrates many of the potential pitfalls in the management of T tubes.
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Multicenter Study
DNAI1 mutations explain only 2% of primary ciliary dykinesia.
Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a rare recessive hereditary disorder characterized by dysmotility to immotility of ciliated and flagellated structures. Its main symptoms are respiratory, caused by defective ciliary beating in the epithelium of the upper airways (nose, bronchi and paranasal sinuses). Impairing the drainage of inhaled microorganisms and particles leads to recurrent infections and pulmonary complications. To date, 5 genes encoding 3 dynein protein arm subunits (DNAI1, DNAH5 and DNAH11), the kinase TXNDC3 and the X-linked RPGR have been found to be mutated in PCD. ⋯ We conclude that DNAI1 gene mutation is not a common cause of PCD, and that major or several additional disease gene(s) still remain to be identified before a sensitive molecular diagnostic test can be developed for PCD.
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The determination of cytokine concentrations in serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) may contribute to the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) since cytokines have been ascribed an important role in TB pathogenesis. ⋯ In cases of smear-negative TB, BALF TNF-alpha can be a useful tool to identify healthy subjects rather than smear-negative TB patients.